As someone who uses Windows Vista practically daily, I've always wondered where all the negativity in the media comes from. Sure, Vista isn't perfect (as if any operating system is), but I just don't see where all the complaints are coming from. It runs just fine on my old (6 years) machine, all my software and hardware is compatible, and it's stable as a rock. Microsoft has been wondering the same thing, and after a little test, they may have found out why people seem to dislike Vista so much.

I am not exactly Linux fanboy, but when I am about to choose an OS for the "real work", I favor XP over Ubuntu, but in any case Ubuntu over Vista.

I tried to like Vista. I could sustain it only for one month, then downgraded to XP. First, I had endless problems connecting to Windows Server domain, second I could not live with terrible speed (on 2GB 2Ghz Core2 Duo).

I guess most peoples that say "Vista is as fast as XP" bought Vista with new computer and never tried to install XP on the same machine. Try it, you will be stunned how fast your HW really can be